In his homily during morning Mass today, Pope Francis said that in order for the faith to make all things possible, one must entrust himself or herself completely to God. The Holy Father began his homily by reflecting on the first reading from the apostle John. The reading says that one who is faithful to God and his commandments “overcomes the world." "This victory over the world," the Pope stressed, "is faith." "On God’s part, [it is] the Holy Spirit who makes this [abiding, this victory] possible through faith,” he said. “For our part, faith: it is powerful! The strength of faith has overcome the world! Our faith can do everything! It is victory! It would be beautiful to repeat this, even to ourselves, because we are often [as] Christians defeated.” “The Church is full of defeated Christians who do not believe in this - that faith is the victory - who do not live this faith, because if you do not live this faith, there is defeat, the world wins, the prince of this world.” Reflecting on Christ’s healing of the hemorrhagic woman, the Caananite woman and the blind man, the Pope noted that all three shared a common trait: faith and trust in God. The two aspects of this faith are confessing and trusting. “Faith means confessing God – the God who revealed Himself to us, from the time of our fathers down to the present: the God of history,” he said. “This we recite each day in the Creed – but it is one thing to recite the Creed heartily, and another [merely] to parrot it, no? I believe, I believe in God, I believe in Jesus Christ, I believe – but do I believe what I am saying? Is this a true confession of faith or is it something I say somehow by rote, because it is [the thing to say]? Do I believe only halfway?” “Confess the Faith!” the Pope exclaimed. “All of it, not part of it! Safeguard this faith, as it came to us, by way of tradition: the whole Faith! And how may I know that I confess the Faith well? There is a sign: he, who confesses the faith well – the whole Faith – has the capacity to worship God.” Regarding the aspect of trusting in God, the 77 year old Pontiff said that entrusting oneself to God leads to hope. “Just as the confession of faith leads us to the worship and praise of God, so trust in God leads us to an attitude of hope.” Concluding his homily, Pope Francis called on the faithful to truly entrust themselves to God and believe in confessing one’s faith. In doing so, he said, ”we shall be Christian victors- and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.”

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This is a modest effort at a "blog" my attempt to offer some brief reflections each day that come from various sources that I find interesting - primarily the daily reflections of Pope Francis as found on Zenit and Rome Reports. Fr. John